Chinaya Banaras is the brainchild of me and my husband. It is a homegrown brand stemming from the timeless city of Banaras, Varanasi. It is a branch taken out of our family business of manufacturing and wholesaling Banarasi Sarees, Suits, and Fabrics for the past 45 years.
My husband is a visionary, a passionate entrepreneur who has always been fascinated by Banarasi sarees and fabrics. He possesses the capability to bring his vision to life. He has completed his Diploma in Fashion Designing from Mumbai.
I, on the other hand, have a knack for finance and love following the latest trends and fashion. I also take charge of the designing and marketing umbrellas.
When the lockdown started in the last year 2020, we decided to switch to digital platforms to showcase our brand online to present Chinaya Banaras as an unconventional online shopping brand that houses the most indigenous, handcrafted, and authentic collection of Banarasi Sarees, Dupattas, and Indo-Western dress materials.
Our brand mirrors a fusion of traditional artistry coupled with contemporary designs, embroideries, and stitching that we as a brand want to represent at a larger scale and wider audience.
Our major challenge has been arranging photoshoots amidst the covid situation. Looking for the right models who would fit our brand and our attires, so that they don’t lose their authentic aura and also logistically arranging these photo shoots have been a major challenge for the brand.
We realized that the influencer marketing model is well-suited in a time in which the audience is looking for some inspiration, searching DIY videos, learning new recipes, or focusing on self-care. This posed a good opportunity for us as well as influencers to engage with their audiences with impactful messaging.
Collaboration with influencers also helped us with creating fresh, personalized content for our digital platforms, overcoming our challenge of the photoshoots, models, and mostly, authenticity of the brand.
Collaborating with Influencers allowed us to create content that was more meaningful, two-way, and purpose-driven. We were able to bring out the cause we believe in through these collaborations where we were able to talk about the legacy of the brand and its authenticity. And it was in no time that more content creators and our consumers started talking about our brand, and the variety we offer.
When we started, there were a few influencers I was eyeing to endorse our Brand, including Pavitra Sagar (@stylemuze), Mamta Das (@thebohobaalika), Dolly Jain (@dolly.jain). It was overwhelming when we were able to collaborate with these amazing creators, a few of them acing their content game in the niche industry of creating sarees content.
We knew we are moving in the right direction with the online presence of the brand and reaching out to the right audience when the Instagram celebrity influencer, Surbhi Jyoti appreciated our work and accepted a gift from us. It has been a great milestone for the brand. We look forward to collaborating with more celebrities and influencers in the coming times to establish more trust among the larger masses.
Explore the latest collection of handcrafted banarasi sarees, suits, and dupattas at Chinaya Banaras.
For more details, visit: chinayabanaras.com
